


Tsuki Ni Murakumo Hana Ni Kaze (As Clouds To The Moon And Winds To The Blossoms)

by cerie



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hanami, Sakura - Freeform, Tokyo - Freeform, springtime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-23
Updated: 2013-03-23
Packaged: 2017-12-06 05:13:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/731821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cerie/pseuds/cerie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Helen steals affection where she can get it, brief tastes that merely sate her for the moment and leave her unsatisfied and longing for more.  Will, it seems, savors that which she deems ephemeral and finds a way to slow things down and stretch them out, creating an island of calm in the chaos that is their lives.</i>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Set during Kali pt. I</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tsuki Ni Murakumo Hana Ni Kaze (As Clouds To The Moon And Winds To The Blossoms)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Callie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callie/gifts).



“I’m not doing it, you know. So you can get that out of your head. There is no way you’re making me sleep in one of those weird hotels.”

Helen huffs slightly and smooths down her skirt. She isn’t particularly fond of air travel on a regular basis but it’s a very nice alternative to the methods of travel available to her as a young woman, when going to India or Japan meant weeks in a boat and not a few hours in flight. Still, as much as air travel is a convenient way to get from one place to another, the frequency with which she and Will have been making transcontinental flights of late (and transatlantic for that matter) would be enough to make anyone a bit testy. She can hardly fault her protege on that front.

“Capsule hotels are a niche market in Japan mostly aimed at businessmen. Considering I own several houses in that country, I can’t imagine there’d be a reason for us to use one. Besides, it’s simply a bed for a night. I do not understand why on Earth you find it so distasteful even if there are far better options for accommodation when one is away from home.” Will makes a face and drags his hand through his hair, ostensibly to tame it, but he succeeds only in making it stick out every which direction. Helen stifles a giggle; she’s far too old to be engaging in such nonsense even if he’s being rather cute at the moment.

She turns a bit in her seat so that she can face him better, ready with another argument why capsule hotels aren’t an abomination and are, instead, a clever solution in a place where space is at a premium when she sees Will’s face. Yes, it’s very clear he’s gone without sleep for quite some time (as has she, but she wears it well) but beneath the dark circles and the stubble there is a very real fear turning his skin a bit ashen beneath his tan. She isn’t as good at reading tells and interpreting emotions as Will is but she has been alive long enough to know that this is more than just the irritation of jet lag and the longing for something luxurious after being cramped in the plane for entirely too long.

“You’re actually frightened of something. What is it?” Will blinks at her, apparently startled that she’d ask such a pointed question but he isn’t the only one with an emotional investment in this relationship. Something changed between them over the past year or so and there’d been a shift from employer-employee to a rich, warm friendship. One doesn’t share multiple near death experiences with someone without getting somewhat close and what had been fondness and an appreciation for a clever mind had segued into something else entirely on Helen’s end. If there’s something bothering Will, she’d like to know about it sooner rather than later.

“It’s just...you know I don’t like small spaces. Claustrophobia’s pretty common, isn’t it?” Helen is aware it’s a common phobia among people but the way that Will’s acting is far too visceral for something he merely doesn’t like. This is something that allegedly induces panic and considering how many claustrophobic situations they’ve been in over the past year or so, it might be directly relevant to his career that she know about it. She’s trying to decide how to follow up on this when Will laughs and breaks the intimacy.

“You know, if you’re really worried about how scared I am, you could always just let me have your room. I know you get a bigger one than I do,” he teases and it’s just enough to knock her off guard that she doesn’t ever decide how she wants to keep pressing at this fear of his so she can determine the root cause of it. The thread gone, she decides that two can play and she leans in a bit, giving him a soft smile.

“Is that so? I’ll take it under advisement. We hardly want you to be laboring under hostile work conditions.” Helen is reasonably sure that the working conditions in the Sanctuary network are so far removed from the normal sphere of employment that they cannot be compared but the situation seems to call for a quip and it’s the best she can come up with on short notice and lack of sleep.

***

When they finally touch down in Tokyo, the weather is strangely so similar to Old City that Helen feels like she’s hardly left. It’s spring here, which means a shift in the winds and heavy rains that come up on a moment’s notice. Tokyo’s always been a city that she’s been fond of because it’s so vibrant and full of life and it’s very easy to get lost in the pressing crush of humanity. As much as she’d like to linger and get lost for a few hours, there are far bigger concerns that need to be addressed.

Namely, Suki, who seems to have gotten aggravated and escaped to wreak havoc on a very, very populated area. While she’s been recaptured, Helen’s here to help do spin work and keep this from becoming a public relations nightmare. In this modern day and age, she is mostly allowed to do whatever she likes by the various governments around the world but she is asked to keep Abnormals secret and safe. Situations like this, while not common, are unfortunate and require a special handling. Will is learning hands-on just how difficult appeasing the government really is and while it’s not the way Helen would have preferred him to learn it, it’s just as well that he knows it now. Especially if he means to inherit her legacy. She isn’t entirely sure if it’s a mantle of honor or a yoke of burden.

They spend the next few hours in a blur of meetings. Helen deliberately timed their flight so they’d be landing in Tokyo around mid-morning and still have time before close of business to address things before turning in for the night. Will isn’t exactly pleased by this; he, unlike she, has to have more sleep than a few snatches on a plane during a long flight. When they finally finish with meetings, it’s closer to evening, and she and Will share a quick dinner before heading to the Tokyo Sanctuary to properly sleep and (hopefully) be more rested in the morning.

This Sanctuary has always been one of her favorites. It’s built somewhat openly and unlike the stately manor that she currently resides in, this one is all chrome and glass. There’s a courtyard just within the gates that is planted with a rather large cherry blossom tree and unlike the last time she visited Tokyo, this time it’s in full bloom. There’s fewer things more beautiful than snow-white blossoms tipped with pink and as they draw closer, Helen realizes there’s a group of people gathered beneath and paper lanterns strung from the branches.

“What’s that, Magnus? Picnic at night?” She nods, a smile coming to her lips. She isn’t sure why she does it but she slips her hand in Will’s and squeezes it lightly. “ _Hanami_ ,” she whispers. “Which is, of course, the ancient tradition of picnicking beneath a _sakura_ tree and enjoying the blossoms. Or the dumplings, as the case may be. We’ve come to Japan at a very opportune time, as these blossoms are rather fleeting and don’t stick around for much longer than a week or two.”

Will gives her another smile, wider this time, and nudges her toward the tree. “We should...uh...we should partake then. I mean, when in Tokyo, right?” It’s late and Helen is reaching the point of exhaustion where even _she_ would like a good night’s rest so she cannot imagine how tired Will must be. Still, his enthusiasm is rather catching and she concedes, settling beneath the tree and sharing in sake and stories with the other residents of this Sanctuary. They converse in a mixture of Japanese and English, with Helen playing translator as the occasion calls for it, and when she mixes up the words for four and seven she decides sleep is really quite necessary.

It’s a pleasant surprise when Will offers to walk her up to her room and they linger in the doorway for a moment chatting about this and that. It isn’t lost on her that she’s had several opportunities to escape the conversation and simply hasn’t, content to banter back and forth with this protege who’s become much more than a mere employee. Helen hasn’t let anyone this close in a long time and she feels like she’s softer somehow for allowing it, weakened. Instead of drawing up her reserve and putting the door between them, she puts on her cheekiest grin.

“Aren’t you going to come in? I told Onryuji that you prefer larger rooms on account of your...condition.”

Will looks startled for a moment and Helen tugs him over the threshold and into her room. It’s the one they keep for foreign dignitaries and is, by all accounts, absolutely ostentatious. It’s exactly what she prefers. But for the moment, she isn’t terribly concerned with the room but rather the man who’s just stepped inside and she presses her mouth to his in an impulsive kiss. Nobody is more shocked than she when he returns that cheeky gesture with something tender, his hand coming up to brush against her cheek and bury itself in her hair and his lips parting gently beneath hers.

Helen steals affection where she can get it, brief tastes that merely sate her for the moment and leave her unsatisfied and longing for more. Will, it seems, savors that which she deems ephemeral and finds a way to slow things down and stretch them out, creating an island of calm in the chaos that is their lives.

“ _Hana wa sakari, tsuki wa kumo naki wo nomi miru mono kawa,_ " Helen whispers, well aware that Will won’t be able to appreciate the sentiment. It’s more for her than anyone else, a reminder that perfection, while sometimes admirable, isn’t always necessary.

**Author's Note:**

> My hometown (not in Japan) is having its annual Cherry Blossom festival at the moment so springtime in Japan is definitely on my brain. Special thanks go to [Callie](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Callie), who inspired Will's WTF over the concept of Capsule Hotels (I'm not sure how we got on the subject to be quite honest).
> 
> The Japanese terms in this fic come from a book I have called [Japanese Proverbs and Sayings](http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index=books&linkCode=qs&keywords=0806110821) and any mistakes are the author's and not my own.
> 
> _hanami_ : the act of picnicking beneath a cherry blossom tree during springtime
> 
> _sakura_ : the Japanese word for cherry blossom
> 
> _hana wa sakari, tsuki wa kumo naki wo nomi miru mono kawa_ : "Why only when flowers at their best and moon at it's fullest should they be seen?" This is a quote by Kenko, a Buddhist scholar, and has the flavor of carpe diem.


End file.
